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Tidal FLAC vs. Qobuz

Does the recent change by Tidal, from MQA to FLAC make Tidal the better choice for streaming?  Or, since Tidal only seems to offer FLAC on its own app and not the BluOS defeat the purpose since you need to transmit by Bluetooth instead of ethernet?  

Currently, I stream from Tidal over direct ethernet cable to a Bluesound Vault streamer, to a McIntosh amp and Revel speakers.  I have a trial membership to  Qobuz but I find Tidal has a much better catalog.  Since Tidal added Flac I thought it would be the obvious choice moving forward, but isn't the point of FLAC defeated since you need to send wirelessly from the Tidal app over Bluetooth?

mojo771
chocaholic
189 posts
 

I have F208’s also…using stereo REL subs with them. Don’t want to hijack your thread but are the Studio 2’s profoundly better?

yage
399 posts
 

@mojo771 

Are you sure it's sending the audio data via Bluetooth? If you're using TIDAL Connect with the Vault, then it's using Wi-Fi not Bluetooth.

lalitk's avatar
lalitk
5,071 posts
 

“I know that you can listen to Qobuz and Tidal through the BluOS app”
@mojo771 

Correct and this is the best way to stream music from any of the embedded music services within BlueOS App. As long as you have Tidal HiFi Plus plan, you can stream up to 24-bitt/192 kHz flac files. 

mojo771 OP
44 posts
 

@yage Honestly I'm not sure if its wifi or Bluetooth.  But its still wireless flac vs the mqa direct wired streaming when I use the ethernet to the Vault.  So I think wired mqa is still better than wireless flac.  But maybe we need an audio engineer for a definitive answer.

Ag insider logo xs@2x
drlou77
104 posts
 

@mojo771 

I started with Tidal when Jay Z owned it.  Then I tried Qobuz.  I ran both for a year.  Just cancelled Tidal.  Qobuz has a more diverse selection of jazz, classical, and other types of music.  Many are in Hi Res.  Their version of Aja 24/192 and sounds fantastic.

I still buy CDs, SACDs, and really good vinyl release (Analogue Productions, Atlantic 75th, and UHQR).  So, I use Qobuz to preview new releases that I may buy, and music that I want to listen to expand my horizons.

I get the upgrade bug now and then.  This week I bought a Bricasti M3 DAC to replace my Chord Qutest with SBooster LPS.  I haven't listened yet, but I'm expecting a leap in SQ.

My 2 cents: upgrade your DAC and/or streamer.

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